Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics and fungi: exploring dual roles in degradation and pathogenicity

This review explores the dual relationship between fungi and nanoplastics, examining how fungi can break down plastic materials through specialized enzymes while also being harmed by nanoplastic exposure. Researchers found that nanoplastics can alter fungal metabolism, enhance virulence, and potentially contribute to antifungal resistance. The study calls for urgent research into how nanoplastic pollution may affect both fungal bioremediation potential and fungal pathogenicity in humans.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic- Fungi interaction – insights from various laboratory scales

Researchers reviewed interactions between nanoplastics and fungal communities across multiple laboratory scales, from controlled liquid cultures to mesocosm experiments, examining effects on fungal growth, enzymatic activity, and plastic biodegradation potential. Nanoplastic exposure altered fungal communities in groundwater systems and reduced decomposition enzyme production, with implications for subsurface ecosystem functioning and drinking water safety.

2025
Article Tier 2

Fungal Bioremediation of Microplastics

This review examines how fungi can be used for bioremediation of plastic pollution, covering the enzymes and metabolic pathways involved in fungal plastic degradation. Fungal approaches complement bacterial strategies and may offer unique capabilities for breaking down certain types of plastics in contaminated environments.

2022 4 citations
Article Tier 2

An overview on role of fungi in systematic plastic degradation

This review examines the role of fungi in plastic degradation, surveying fungal species and enzymes capable of breaking down common polymers and discussing their potential for sustainable bioremediation of plastic pollution in the environment.

2022 Journal of Applied Biology & Biotechnology 15 citations
Article Tier 2

The threat of microplastics and microbial degradation potential; a current perspective

This review covers the growing threat of microplastics in marine environments, where they enter the food chain and can transfer to humans along with pathogenic organisms, causing various toxic effects. The paper also explores how bacteria and fungi found in ocean environments could be harnessed to biodegrade different types of plastics as a future strategy for reducing microplastic pollution.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic-fungal interaction across different laboratory scales: Implications for transport in subsurface environments

This study examined how nanoplastics interact with fungi across different laboratory scales, focusing on the implications for how nanoplastics move through subsurface (underground) environments. Understanding fungal transport of nanoplastics is important because soil fungi form vast networks that could either trap or spread plastic particles through the ground and into groundwater.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

The Potential Role of Marine Fungi in Plastic Degradation – A Review

This review examined the potential role of marine fungi in plastic degradation, highlighting that while terrestrial fungi can metabolize some plastic types, marine fungal-plastic interactions remain largely unexplored despite fungi's known ability to break down recalcitrant compounds.

2021 Frontiers in Marine Science 136 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastic-fungal interaction across different laboratory scales: Implications for transport in subsurface environments

This study examined how nanoplastics interact with fungi across different laboratory scales, focusing on the implications for how nanoplastics move through subsurface (underground) environments. Understanding fungal transport of nanoplastics is important because soil fungi form vast networks that could either trap or spread plastic particles through the ground and into groundwater.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Nanoparticle-Based Bioremediation Approach for Plastics and Microplastics

This review explores how nanoparticle-enhanced bioremediation approaches can help address plastic and microplastic pollution. Researchers found that combining biological degradation by bacteria and fungi with engineered nanoparticles can improve the efficiency of breaking down various plastic polymers. The study suggests that these hybrid bioremediation strategies offer a promising eco-friendly pathway for mitigating plastic contamination in the environment.

2024 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Fungal Degradation of Microplastics—An Environmental Need

This review highlights fungi as an underexplored but promising tool for breaking down microplastics in the environment, noting that fungal enzymes can degrade plastics that bacteria struggle with. As conventional physical and chemical methods fall short of addressing the scale of microplastic pollution, fungal biodegradation could offer a practical, scalable complement to existing cleanup strategies.

2026 Toxics
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicity of microplastic wastes and their sustainable management: A review

This review summarizes how microplastics damage ecosystems when organisms ingest them and absorb the toxic chemicals they carry, and examines microbial remediation as an emerging solution. Bacteria and fungi that can break down plastics offer a more environmentally friendly approach to reducing microplastic pollution, which is important because up to 14 million tons of plastic waste enters the oceans each year and enters the human food chain.

2024 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 67 citations
Article Tier 2

Role of Novel Biological Agents in Plastic Degradation and Mitigation Approach towards Bioplastics

This review examines the role of novel biological agents — including bacteria, fungi, and engineered microorganisms — in degrading synthetic plastics and proposes bioplastics as a mitigation strategy to reduce persistent polymer accumulation in the environment. The authors outline the enzymatic mechanisms involved in breaking down major plastic types and discuss the potential of combining biological degradation with bioplastic adoption.

2025 THE ASIAN BULLETIN OF GREEN MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Article Tier 2

Myco-degradation of microplastics: an account of identified pathways and analytical methods for their determination

This review examined fungal degradation pathways for microplastics and the analytical methods used to assess biodegradation progress. The study highlights that fungi possess diverse enzymatic systems, including extracellular enzymes, capable of breaking down various plastic polymers, suggesting that fungal bioremediation could be a promising approach for reducing microplastic pollution in the environment.

2022 Biodegradation 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Fungal potential for the degradation of petroleum-based polymers: An overview of macro- and microplastics biodegradation

This review examines the potential of fungi to break down petroleum-based plastics, highlighting their unique ability to produce enzymes capable of degrading complex polymers. Researchers found that certain fungal species can use plastic materials as their sole carbon and energy source, offering a promising biological approach to plastic waste remediation. The study calls for further research on novel fungal isolates and molecular techniques to enhance plastic biodegradation processes.

2019 Biotechnology Advances 442 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Biodegradation of Plastics and Microplastics: Enzymatic Mechanisms, Biotechnological Applications, and Ecotoxicological Perspectives

This review examined the enzymatic mechanisms by which microorganisms degrade plastics and microplastics, covering biotechnological applications and ecotoxicological perspectives. Researchers found that certain bacterial and fungal enzymes can break down persistent plastic polymers, positioning microbial biodegradation as a promising sustainable remediation approach, though scalability and environmental deployment remain challenges.

2025 Environmental Toxicology and Ecology 1 citations
Meta Analysis Tier 1

Fungal plastiphily and its link to generic virulence traits makes environmental microplastics a global health factor

This meta-analysis reveals that fungi, including species that cause human infections, are attracted to microplastics in the environment. Microplastics provide tiny habitats where disease-causing fungi can accumulate and potentially evolve, suggesting that the trillions of microplastic particles in our environment may be increasing our exposure to fungal pathogens.

2023
Article Tier 2

Fungal Bioremediation: A Sustainable Strategy for Microplastic Removal from Polluted Water

This review covers fungal bioremediation of microplastic pollution in water, examining how various fungal species degrade plastic polymers, the mechanisms involved (enzymatic oxidation, biofilm formation), and the feasibility of scaling these biological approaches for water treatment applications.

2025 Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries
Article Tier 2

Role of Microbes in Microplastic Removal and Its Effect on Human Health

This review examines the role of microbes in microplastic removal from environmental matrices and food systems, covering both degradation pathways and the health implications of microplastic-microbiome interactions for humans and other organisms.

2025
Article Tier 2

Harnessing Microorganisms for Microplastic Degradation: A Sustainable Approach to Mitigating Environmental Pollution

This review surveys microorganisms—bacteria, fungi, and other taxa—capable of degrading microplastics, examining the enzymes, metabolic pathways, and environmental conditions involved, and assessing the practical potential of harnessing these organisms for bioremediation of plastic pollution.

2025 NIPES Journal of Science and Technology Research
Review Tier 2

The Role of Marine Fungi in Degradation of Microplastic and Plastics – a Review

This review examines the role of marine fungi in the biodegradation of microplastics and bulk plastics, synthesising literature on over 400 known plastic-degrading microorganism species and highlighting the most significant fungal groups capable of decomposing plastic materials in marine environments.

2024
Article Tier 2

Application of green microbiology for microplastic remediation: Current progress and future perspectives

This review explores how microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, can be harnessed to break down microplastic pollution through environmentally friendly biodegradation approaches. Researchers summarized current progress in identifying plastic-degrading microbes and the enzymes they use. The study highlights the promise of green microbiology as a sustainable strategy for tackling microplastic contamination, while noting that significant technical challenges remain.

2024 Environmental Advances 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbe‐mediated biodegradation of microplastics from wastes

Researchers examined microbe-mediated biodegradation of microplastics from waste, reviewing bacterial and fungal species capable of breaking down various plastic polymers and discussing enzymatic mechanisms that could be harnessed for bioremediation strategies.

2023 Water and Environment Journal 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Challenges and opportunities in bioremediation of micro-nano plastics: A review.

This review examines biological approaches to removing micro- and nanoplastics from the environment, focusing on microbial degradation and bioremediation strategies. While bioremediation holds promise, challenges remain in identifying microbes capable of degrading common plastic types and scaling these processes for practical environmental cleanup.

2022 The Science of the total environment
Article Tier 2

Microplastic effects in aquatic ecosystems with special reference to fungi–zooplankton interaction: identification of knowledge gaps and prioritization of research needs

This review identifies a largely unexplored gap in microplastic research: how plastic pollution affects aquatic fungi and their interactions with zooplankton. Because fungi play critical roles in breaking down dead organic matter and serving as food for zooplankton, disruptions caused by microplastics — which can physically resemble fungal spores in size — could have cascading effects on freshwater food webs and nutrient cycling. The authors call for targeted experiments to fill this knowledge gap and better predict ecosystem-level impacts of microplastic contamination.

2023 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11 citations